


This Could Be Heaven

by XenophonSpeaks



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Apartment AU, Eren POV, Fluff, Gender Non-Conforming Character, Hurt/Comfort, Jean POV, M/M, Musician Jean Kirstein, Polyamory, ererijean, levi pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 19:34:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5978677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XenophonSpeaks/pseuds/XenophonSpeaks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A place for the Apartment AU verse drabbles/ficlets to reside. Largely ererijean domestic fluff and smut alike. Each chapter is it's own separate work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Finally moving these from tumblr to AO3 at the request of several sweet individuals. Hope you enjoy.

“David Bowie is overrated anyway,” Eren says, eyeing Jean’s cardboard cutout distastefully. 

“First of all _how dare you_ , but more importantly, what is wrong with you that you don’t like David Bowie?” Jean turns to grab Eren by the shoulders, looking deep into his eyes. “It’s ok. Just tell me who hurt you.”

Eren swats his hands away, snorting—whether in derision or amusement isn’t clear. “You’re just jealous of how good he looks in makeup and glitter.”

“Of course I’m jealous. Who in their right mind would not be jealous of David Bowie?”

Eren gestures emphatically at himself, raising an eyebrow.

“Well you obviously don’t count, you’ve never even been in your right mind to begin with anyway.”

“Wow, really? I’ll have you know my taste in—“

Levi leans around the corner of the kitchen, giving them both a look that somehow manages to stop the conversation immediately. He gives a shake of his head before ducking back into the kitchen. “Eren’s right, Jean. David Bowie is totally overrated.”

Jean places a hand over his heart, jaw dropping in affront. “How could you say that? I thought we were friends. We’ve been roommates for five years. Why would you betray me like this?”

They can almost feel Levi’s eyeroll, his disembodied voice echoing back to where Jean and Eren are stationed in the living room. “I’m just saying there are better celebrities from that era.”

Jean turns to give Eren a disbelieving look. Eren just shrugs. “Cyndie Lauper is better.”

“No,” Levi’s voice cuts back into the room, the squeak of the faucet being turned off ringing in the sudden silence. “Cyndi Lauper is good, but Madonna was the best thing to come out of the 80s.”

“I don’t know. I like Madonna, but Cyndi is just so much more,” Eren stalls, waiving his hand around as if hoping to grasp the right word from the air.

“Carefree?”

“Yes!”

“You’re only saying that because Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is your favorite song to get dressed to,” Jean interjects with a smirk.

“What the fuck– how do you even know that?”

“Dude, it’s not my fault you sing really loud. I think the whole apartment complex knows that’s your favorite song.”

“You sing really well, though,” Levi says, plopping down on the couch and giving Eren the ghost of a smile. 

“And you look really great in eyeliner,” Jean adds, dropping down beside Levi and throwing his arm over the back of the couch. “You always wear eyeliner when you’ve been listening to Cyndi Lauper. Don’t think we didn’t notice.”

“Oh my god, it’s like I’m not allowed to have secrets in this house anymore,” Eren groans before dramatically flopping across the both of them on the couch.

“I don’t think you could keep a secret if you tried, kid,” Levi says, running a hand through Eren’s disheveled hair and sending pleasant tingles all along his scalp. “You’re too expressive. And your poker face is shit.”

Eren glares weakly but clearly doesn’t plan to argue. Probably because arguing could mean the end of the hair petting he’s currently receiving.

“Besides, why would you want to keep a secret from us anyway?” Jean says. Eren swallows. There’s suddenly a glint in his eye that Eren knows well, and it usually spells out trouble in the best way possible. 

He feels Jean’s hand trailing slowly up his leg. “I think we’re pretty good at taking care of your secrets. Among… other things.” 

The hand in Eren’s hair gives a gentle but firm tug, pulling back to expose his neck and making the breath catch in Eren’s throat. 

“Maybe he needs a reminder?” Levi asks, the husky tone of his voice sending a shiver down his spine. Jean hums, grinning his toothy half-grin as he leans over to nibble at Levi’s ear, eyes never leaving Eren’s. 

“A- a reminder would be great, honestly,” Eren squawks, feeling the blood in his body rushing rapidly south.

“If you ask very nicely, we might be convinced to give you one,” Levi says, his eyes fixed on Eren’s mouth, the hand not tangled in Eren’s hair trailing slowly lower, counting each and every rib before stopping just above the waistline of Eren’s shorts. “Maybe you could sing us a song?”

The hand that was on his leg is suddenly pressing down on his groin, and Eren’s mouth falls open on an involuntary moan. 

“You really do have a pretty voice,” Levi murmurs, eyes darkening in a way that sends a shiver crawling up Eren’s spine.

“Yeah. You do. Just no singing Cyndi Lauper right now,” Jean says with a snort.

“Really, Jean? I’m trying to create a mood here.”

Eren laughs, a rich, full-bodied sound that warms him from the inside out.

He wouldn’t mind living like this forever, really.


	2. Chapter 2

“Get out,” Jean growls in a low voice.

“But—Jean, you can’t just—“

“I said _get out_ , Eren.”

Eren’s mouth snaps shut with audible click, his eyes welling up as he turns to stomp from the room. Levi catches him around the waist as he makes to exit the kitchen.

“Don’t make him cry, Jean,” Levi murmurs, arms coming up to rub at Eren’s back soothingly. “It’s not that big of a deal. We’ll get you a new one.”

“I have had that fern for six years, Levi. Six. Years. That’s longer than I’ve even known you, and now—now it’s just—“ Jean stutters, voice cracking as he clearly fights to keep his eyes dry.

“Jean. It’s a fucking fern plant.”

“Yeah,” Eren mumbles weakly from where his face is smashed into Levi’s hair.

“But it was my fern plant and I’ve managed to keep it alive all this time. I don’t,” Jean brakes off, turning to poke at the dead leaves dejectedly. “I’m not usually very good at keeping something going for very long.”

Eren raises his head, sniffling but looking determined. Levi knows that look well enough to guess what’s coming next, and he gives Eren a gentle push in Jean’s direction, following suit.

“I,” Eren starts off in a huff before taking a deep breath, hand coming up to touch Jean’s shoulder lightly, “am really, _really_ sorry.”

Jean looks at him out of the corner of his eye but still refuses to turn his head.

Levi calmly moves to stand at Jean’s other side, hands reaching out to gently capture Jean’s fingers from where they’re still prodding at the dead foliage.

“But you are _totally full of shit_ ,” Eren finishes, grabbing Jean’s elbow and tugging on it just enough to get Jean to turn so he can level him with a glare. “You’re not shit at taking care of things at all. _I_ am. That is exactly why this plant is dead. And I did warn you before you left to visit your mom that I’m no good at this sort of thing.”

“That’s not what I meant, Eren. It’s symbolic, ok? It meant something to me. I mean, I can take care of a plant, that’s why it’s been alive this long, but I can’t—I’m not good at making other things—and this was the only thing that I’ve ever—“

“You have lived with me for five years,” Levi points out bluntly. “And, as you are aware considering how many other roommates we’ve gone through, you are the only person I’ve ever roomed with who hasn’t fucked that one up. I’d say that’s a pretty long-standing achievement.”

Jean blinks owlishly, not having considered that.

“That’s not my point,” Eren interrupts, giving Jean a firm shake to regain his attention. “You’re also good at taking care of us,” Eren insists tearfully, warm hand running up Jean’s arm to rest lightly against his neck. “You’re good at being with us.”

Jean swallows thickly, his chest suddenly too full of an emotion that has nothing to do with sadness. 

“Except when you make Eren cry.”

“Yeah, not then. Then you just suck.”

“Wow, you two sure know how to cheer a guy up.”

Eren laughs wetly and Levi chuckles, leaning in to wrap his arms around Jean in a tight embrace. They stand there quietly embracing for a few minutes before Levi’s mischievous streak makes itself known.

“You should make it up to him,” he says evenly.

“Who, me?” Jean says, offended. “He’s the one that killed my fern,” he finishes, though there’s a noticeable lack of heat behind the words now.

“No, _me_ ,” Eren says breathily, mouth suddenly against Jean’s ear. An involuntary shudder works its way along his spine. He feels his heart double its pace as Levi’s hands begin to drift lower, fingers teasing beneath the hem of his jeans. 

“I might even be convinced to help,” Levi says generously, fingers deftly popping open the button of Jean’s pants, hands smoothing over the contours of his hips with unspoken promises.

“We haven’t really had a chance to welcome you home properly,” Eren murmurs, lips sliding against the skin of Jean’s neck, and Jean distantly thinks it’s a wonder he can think at all through the haze of sheer want he’s currently experiencing. It’s been weeks, after all.

Levi pauses to lean over Jean’s shoulder and give Eren a look. “Here, or bedroom?”

Eren merely raises his eyebrows, giving the side of Jean’s neck a firm suck, eliciting a loud moan.

Levi nods, deftly moving in front of Jean and dropping to his knees.

“W-wait,” Jean squeaks, “in the middle of the kitchen?”

Levi hums noncommittally, focused on working Jean out of his pants as quickly as possible before leaning forward to mouth at Jean through his briefs.

Jean nearly collapses, falling heavily against Eren with a groan, heat lancing through his body as one hand reaches out instinctively to tangle in Levi’s hair.

“Don’t worry,” Eren whispers into his ear, one hand wandering to grip him firmly around the waste, squeezing possessively, his other hand working its way up under Jean’s shirt to drag nails lightly across his chest the way he knows drives Jean mad. “I promise I’ll hold you up.”

“Let’s hope you’re better at that than you are at watering plants,” Levi deadpans against the outline of Jean’s erection.

And despite the trembling in his legs, Jean can’t help but laugh, throwing his head back and deciding that this –this feeling of having truly come _home_ – is a hell of a lot better than taking care of a plant ever was.


	3. Chapter 3

Levi liked the quiet of the early morning hours. It was a rare occasion when he wasn’t up before sunrise, quietly padding around the apartment to make tea and watching the light slowly filter in through the kitchen windows.

This morning was no exception, he thought, grasping the warm mug tightly in his hands and squeezing his eyes shut. He took a deep breath, willing himself to calm. Be present in the moment, he reminded himself, trying to consciously fight off his quickening heart rate. 

Everything was fine, he knew. Logically, nothing was wrong, and he had no reason to be panicking at the kitchen table at six in the morning on a Wednesday.

And yet here he was, he thought bitterly, trying to breathe through a spike of adrenaline that made his stomach clench.

Something about mornings was hard for Levi. He had never been able to figure out why. There wasn’t a reason– no specific fear or memory he could pin it down to. And it wasn’t every morning, either; just sometimes. There was no pattern, which frustrated Levi all the more. If he could just pin it down, if he could just _figure it out_ so that he could _fix it_ and make it _stop_ —

He took another deep breath before quickly bringing his mug to his face with shaking hands, inhaling the warm scent of mint, a smell which served to help calm him some but not enough to quell the panic entirely. 

Be present in the moment, he told himself again.

He tried to focus on the light of the balcony window, which was just beginning to turn a noticeable shade of blue rather than black. Everything was still and quiet, noises barely discernable from the street below at this hour. For a moment, Levi could almost believe there was no one else in the world but him. 

That sense of anxiety combined with a crippling feeling of loneliness so powerful it made him ache.

A loud crash from the other room startled Levi enough that he almost sent his mug of tea flying off the table. The house was mostly dark, but the light of the TV in the living room was still on, shadows flashing along the walls of the apartment, though it must have been muted because Levi could hear no sounds beyond that of his own labored breathing in the heavy silence. 

Glaring briefly at a small spill of tea now on the otherwise pristine tabletop, he stood and silently crept around the corner, peering into the living room.

He snorted at the sight before him.

Eren and Jean were both sprawled across the couch, one of Eren’s feet on the coffee table and likely the source of the noise he’d just heard, if the popcorn all over the floor and fallen laptop were anything to go by. Jean had his arms wrapped around Eren’s torso possessively while Eren appeared to be doing his best to take up as much space as humanely possible, limbs spread in every direction and mouth hanging open. Levi was impressed he wasn’t snoring. 

Or drooling. Or both.

He shook his head, smiling as he came further into the room. He gently picked up the fallen laptop, noting that it seemed to be in working order before setting it on a nearby chair and well out of Eren’s range. He stooped to begin sweeping up bits of fallen popcorn, dropping them back into the now-empty bowl. He’d have to vacuum later to get the rest, though he could probably do it now and neither of them would notice. They slept like the dead, Levi thought, glancing at them fondly before swiftly standing to dump the popcorn in the trash.

A whimper broke the silence, and Levi froze where he stood, turning to look back at them, eyes wide.

Eren’s face was scrunched up, hands twitching as though fighting to grasp something. He looked upset, and as Levi continued to watch, he heard him let out another sad little sound.

 _A nightmare_ , Levi realized, bending to set the popcorn bowl on the floor before stepping closer. He reached out, smoothing a hand along Eren’s forehead gingerly and feeling relieved when he let out a contented sigh.

That was all the warning Levi had before he was unceremoniously grasped and pulled down onto the couch with an indignant squawk. 

He fell mostly on top of Jean, Eren’s body rolling to trap him from escaping easily. Levi snorted as Eren nuzzled into his side, smiling as one of Jean’s arms came around to firmly wrapped around Levi’s hip and hold him close.

“You tricked me,” Levi said, poking Eren in the forehead none too gently. 

Eren’s laugh was muffled against Levi’s shirt. “Maybe.”

Levi thought for a moment. “Did you spill that popcorn on purpose?”

Eren hummed noncommittally, hand wandering up Levi’s shirt to rub his back in what Levi was sure was meant to be a placating gesture. It worked, Levi thought, dropping his head against Jean with pleased resignation.

They sat like that for a while, the light in the room slowly growing brighter.

“You ok now?” Jean murmured quietly, concern evident in his voice, thumb moving against his hip lightly.

Levi felt his chest constrict, understanding suddenly dawning on him.

“Sounded like you were having a bad morning,” Eren said gently at Levi’s continued silence.

Levi pressed his head further into Jean’s shirt, his hand coming up to fist itself in the front of Eren’s sweater to pull him closer. He thought about it for a moment and realized that he _was_ ok now; he didn’t feel panicked at all. They’d managed to distract him. To keep him present in the moment. 

To make him feel like he wasn’t dealing with this alone.

“Yeah,” he said, annoyed at the way the raspy sound of his voice gave away his emotions. He swallowed, clearing this throat a little. “Yeah, I’m ok now.”

They sat in silence, Eren’s warm hand slowly roaming his back, Jean’s thumb slowly caressing his hip, comfortable in each other’s arms. 

Levi felt so choked up with emotion –a feeling he was not exactly accustomed to– that he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He decided to just bask in it, allowing himself to feel safe, secure in the knowledge that even if he did go into a full-blown panic attack, neither of them would judge him for it. Neither of them would let him suffer alone.

“I don’t want to be a dick and ruin the moment, but I have to piss,” Jean eventually said in a strained voice, weakly shoving at both Levi and Eren, neither of which made any effort to move. 

“Seriously, you two are heavy. Get off.”

“No,” said Eren simply.

“Mm,” Levi agreed, pulling Eren tight against him and refusing to budge.

Jean sighed the sigh of the incredibly put-upon and somehow managed to wiggle out from under the both of them, climbing over the back of the couch before walking off toward the bathroom, grumbling something about asshole boyfriends and no one appreciating his sacrifices; Levi wasn’t really paying too close attention at that point, instead drifting comfortably along the line between sleep and wakefulness.

“No moving,” Eren huffed, tangling his legs with Levi’s and wrapping his arms more firmly around him.

“You say that as if I’d planned to.”

“I’m honestly kind of concerned you’re going to get up and pull out the vacuum.”

Levi tried to grimace but it came out more of a smile. “It did cross my mind.”

Eren groaned, moving to push Levi more firmly into the couch cushions. “No. No vacuuming till after breakfast.”

“Breakfast?”

“Breakfast,” Jean answered decisively as he came back around the corner, walking into the kitchen and beginning to pull out pots and pans. “Who wants eggs and bacon?”

Levi watched Eren’s eyes light up and laughed softly. He shifted slightly to angle his head toward the kitchen. “Just don’t make a huge mess this time. I don’t need bacon grease all over the tile again.”

“That was _one time_ , Levi, and it was two years ago. Let it go already,” Jean grumbled over the sound of pans being laid on the stove.

“Let it go, let it goooo,” Eren sang softly in Levi’s ear, breaking off abruptly in a fit of giggles as Levi jabbed him in the side.

He huffed, falling back against the couch with a smile. For once in his life, Levi thought, anxiety didn’t seem so unbearable.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt courtesy of the wonderful tanekore on tumblr:
> 
> "Sending you all the good feelings! Also, ererijeans you say? Every once in a while Eren and Jean get into one of their 'competitive' moods. Most of the time Levi finds it pretty annoying to be stuck in the middle of the two of them, except when their in the bedroom. And the competition is to see who can make him squirm more -wink- afterwards the two of them fight over showertime with levi, cuddletime with levi, etc before remembering theres room for the 3 of them. Levi’s always incredibly spoiled that night, and the following day for putting up with the two of them pulling and pushing him every which way the night before. He’d never tell them he enjoys it though b/c he likes the pampering too much. Fin."
> 
> Hope ya'll are ready for some smut. B)

“You can’t pick Roman Reigns twice, Jean, that’s not fair.”

“You’re just pissed because I’m winning. You’d probably do better if you didn’t keep picking fucking losers.”

“ _Excuse you_ , Randy Orton is a twelve-time world champion and he also has fucking fantastic abs. Reigns has only won once. And he has stupid hair.”

“Roman does not have stupid hair, how can you even say that?”

“He’s just annoying, ok. It’s like he can’t get over The Shield.”

“That’s probably because The Shield is amazing—“

“I think you mean stupid—“

“Says the guy who was playing John Cena earlier!”

“His theme song is really catchy, ok? And I can like whoever I want to like!”

“Yeah but you still aren’t winning!”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you guys like this shit,” Levi mumbles from between them, head thrown back in exasperation along the back of the couch. “You know this is fake, right?”

“ _We know_ ,” they chant in unison, barely sparing Levi a glance before they’re back at it again. Levi sighs deeply, waiting, because he knows it’s only going to get worse.

And he is correct, because ten minutes later Eren has thrown a controller across the room in a fit of rage.

“Hey, chill out,” Levi says gently, putting a hand on his arm and rubbing lightly. “It’s just a game.”

Eren looks briefly chastised before turning to level Jean with a glare. “ _You cheated_ ,” he hisses.

Jean seems unable to stop laughing. “How can I cheat? It’s an X-Box game, I can’t do anything with it you couldn’t do.”

“Whatever. I hate wrestling anyway,” Eren says, leaning back against the cushions.

Levi gives an amused snort, because it’s always entertaining to see Eren get dramatic.

“Liar,” Jean deadpans, rolling his eyes.

“I do,” he insists, curling up into Levi’s side. Levi and Jean share a look that says something along the lines of _yeah right_ as Levi wraps his arm around Eren. 

He jolts when he suddenly feels the warmth of Eren’s tongue wandering along his throat.

“I am much more interested in winning at _this_ ,” Eren breathes heavily against Levi’s ear, eyes locking with Jean’s in an obvious challenge. Levi shudders, anticipation racing through him, because this is not an unfamiliar scenario. In fact, he’s almost entirely sure he knows what will come next.

Sure enough, he can see a spark ignite in Jean’s amber-colored eyes.

“That’s a lot of confidence you have there, Jaeger,” he says coyly, leaning forward to run a firm hand along Levi’s inner thigh. 

Levi swallows audibly. 

Yeah, this is definitely going where he figured. The thought makes his heart speed up, and he closes his eyes as Eren bites gently just beneath the hollow of his ear.

But he says nothing, because as much as he benefits from this kind of competition, he also knows his ego isn’t really involved. This is between Eren and Jean, and frankly Levi is happy to be along for the ride.

Eren brings a hand up to wrap around Levi’s neck, rubbing at the fuzz of his undercut in a way he knows Levi finds maddening. “That’s because I know I’m good at what I do,” Eren says, a bite to his voice as he levels Jean with another glare before turning Levi’s face towards his own and claiming his lips in a slow, burning kiss.

Levi’s brain already feels like it’s melting, but Jean’s hand suddenly finds the button on his pants and he finds himself becoming rapidly uncomfortable in his too-tight jeans. He moans into this kiss when a hand confidently finds its way into his pants just far enough to tease the tip of his cock. 

He can tell Eren has noticed because the kiss suddenly becomes more heated, more demanding, Levi’s head being tipped back and his mouth being plied with a tongue that feels almost unfairly skilled. Levi isn’t sure what to do with his own hands, feeling torn and conflicted and full of far too much sensation to make a sound decision on the matter. He ends up fisting them at his sides in an effort to behave, knowing that the longer he lets this go on without showing any favor (and thus not ending the competition), the more he’ll get out of it.

That decision flies out the window the moment he feels Jean straddle his waist, his breath leaving him in a rush as Jean grinds down against him.  
Eren breaks away from his mouth to look at Jean, his green eyes so bright Levi thinks they look almost like gem stones in the dim light of the television. “ _That_ ,” he says definitively, “is cheating.”

Jean raises an eyebrow at him, hands coming up to brace the back of the couch on either side of Levi’s head—and conveniently blocking Eren from going in for another kiss. “Oh? I think it looks a lot more like,” he pauses, grinding down hard against Levi and grinning wolfishly when he elicts a moan, “ _winning_.”

Levi feels captivated, watching Jean’s hips roll languidly against his own, silhouetted against the light of the television. His hands reach forward of their own accord, latching onto Jean’s waist, fingers digging in greedily. Jean moans in a way that somehow manages to sound triumphant, and Levi shivers as he hears Eren actually growl against his ear.

He watches, fascinated, as Eren turns his head to bite Jean’s wrist; hard enough to hurt but not enough to bruise or break skin. Jean gasps, and Levi watches with intrigue because this is most definitely not part of the usual deal. Jean and Eren always seem to have an unspoken no-touching rule whenever one of these competitions begin.

Eren’s hand rises to run along the underside of Jean’s arm, grabbing hold and bringing Jean’s hand slowly towards Eren’s lips. Their eyes lock, Jean seemingly unable to look away as Eren brings Jean’s index finger into his mouth and sucks.

Arousal shoots towards Levi’s groin at the broken sound Jean makes, Jeans hips moving against his own without thought, mouth falling open.

Eren smiles around his finger seductively. 

He then abruptly shoves Jean off of Levi’s lap and onto the other side of the couch, immediately jumping to straddle Levi’s now-vacated lap as Jean lands with an audible ‘oomph’.

“Y-you,” Jean stutters, eyes wide with shock before finally settling into irritation. “ _You_ are the cheater, oh my god, that is entirely unfair.”

Eren smiles, biting his lip and grinding down against Levi. “Winning,” is all he says.

Levi cannot get over how lucky he is to be in the middle of this kind of pissing match. And on a semi-regular basis, no less.

His hands somehow find their way to Eren’s ass because how could they not, honestly, before Levi finds his head being tilted back, jaw firmly in Jean’s grasp.

“Pay attention to _me_ ,” Jean says roughly before sealing his mouth over Levi’s own. Levi can feel Jean’s lip piercing graze against his tongue, their mouths moving with a synchronicity born from countless hours of practice. 

But as much as Levi wants to listen to Jean’s request, it’s very hard to ignore the hard line of Eren’s length pressing against his own, though admittedly it’s hard to focus on much of anything with the sensory overload he’s experiencing.

Jean pulls back slightly to level Levi with a heated gaze, dragging Levi’s bottom lip between his teeth as Eren grinds down at just the right angle to have Levi slipping dangerously towards orgasm.

He pushes at both of them abruptly, shaking his head. “Uh-uh, no. Bedroom. I am not having jizz on this couch again. I just fucking had it cleaned.”

Jean snorts. Eren laughs, stepping lithely off of Levi’s lap. “I suppose that’s fair.”

Before Levi can even nod that _yes_ , it is in fact very fair, he finds himself being thrown unceremoniously over Jean’s shoulder and hauled toward the bedroom. 

“What the fuck,” Levi bites out breathlessly, managing to push himself up enough to look at Eren over Jean’s shoulder. “Are you seeing this? He’s carrying me.”

“I am seeing it, and it is pretty impressive,” Eren admits, following behind them down the hall. “You’re pretty heavy to just be lugging around like it’s nothing.”

“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Jean wheezes before managing to toss Levi onto the bed.

Once Levi’s settled onto the mattress, he looks up to find both of them eyeing him like a cat might eye a wounded bird. They turn to each other and share a look, seeming to come to some unspoken agreement before crawling toward him on the bed. 

“Now, where were we,” Eren says wonderingly, pulling off Levi’s jeans and tossing them aside as Jean simultaneously pulls Levi’s shirt over his head. 

Eren regards his naked form for a moment, licking his lips. “Better.”

“Much better,” Jean agrees, beginning to peel off his own clothing in short order. 

Levi can’t help but watch. He can’t get enough of the dip of Jean’s hips, of the creamy smooth skin and light patch of hair that works it’s way down his navel like an invitation to every wet dream Levi’s ever had. 

He also can’t get enough of the curve of Eren’s ass, he notes distractedly, eyeing Eren’s backside appreciatively as he, too, manages to kick off his clothing, revealing tan skin so delicious it makes Levi’s mouth water.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry,” Jean all but purrs, face coming to rest against Levi’s navel. 

Eren licks his lips exaggeratedly, catching Levi’s eye as he pushes him flat against the bed, sprawling out across the sheets next to him as Jean settles between Levi’s legs. “Me too,” he breathes.

Levi finds himself suddenly glad that there are three of them, because he’s fairly certain he couldn’t keep up with either one of their sex drives on his own.

“Insatiable,” he murmurs, Eren humming in agreement against his lips before claiming his mouth once again.

Hot air blows warm and wet against the line of his thigh and Levi fights the urge to move his hips toward the source. Teeth replace the wet feeling, biting and sucking up the line of his legs in a way that leaves Levi certain there will be marks there in the morning. The notion turns him on as much as it makes something in his chest grow warm and fond.

And then suddenly there’s a tongue against the tip of his cock and Levi loses all ability to think of anything at all.

“Fuck,” he hisses against Eren’s lips before being swallowed up in a searing kiss that is more teeth than tongue, one of Levi’s hands coming up to cup the side of Eren’s face and hold it to his own, his other hand finding its way to Jean’s hair and combing through it mindlessly.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Jean teases, licking languidly at his cock from hilt to tip just as Eren’s hand fists itself roughly in Levi’s hair, exposing the line of his throat.

Levi makes a choked sound, unable to articulate anything intelligible but a broken, “ _Please_.”

“Aww, too much teasing?” Eren asks, tongue and teeth working their way along the curve of his neck, more red marks blooming beneath his ministrations. “All you have to do is tell us who won.”

Jean hums against the inside of Levi’s thigh, the vibration sending tingles clear up along his scalp and arms. “He’s right. Just one word and we could make you feel really, really good.”

“I swear to fuck if you two don’t do something—“ Levi starts, breaking off and bucking his hips when Eren sinks his teeth into the tendon of his neck. “Shit.”  
Jean seems to take pity on him, finally sliding Levi into his mouth and laving at him wetly. 

The completely wrecked noises Levi makes would embarrass him if it weren’t for the way they seem to encourage both Jean and Eren not to stop. 

Eren pulls back, reaching to grab Levi’s hand from where it’s somehow found itself wrapped around his shoulder. Turning his head, he locks eyes with Levi as he takes his finger into his mouth, just as he had Jean’s earlier. 

He sucks hard, Jean doing the same to his cock.

Levi comes so abruptly he has no time to give either of them a warning, his back arching off the bed, Jean’s hands coming up to hold his hips down as he works him through it.

When he finally comes back to his senses, it’s to find Eren grinning down at him. “So?”

“Mm.”

“That doesn’t really tell either of us anything, Levi.”

Levi throws his hand over his eyes, brain still attempting to come back to earth. “For fucks sake, no. No talking right now.”

He feels Jean laugh against his thigh. “Can we call that a tie, then?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Levi says with obvious relief. “A tie is exactly right.”

“But you always call it a tie,” Eren murmurs dejectedly, though when Levi moves his arm enough to look up at him again, it’s to find Eren looking at him fondly.

“That’s because it is literally always a tie with you two.”

Jean crawls up beside them, flopping down and throwing an arm across the both of them. “I guess I can live with that.”

“You’re only saying that because _you_ won the WWE 2k15 game earlier,” Eren grouses, wrapping an arm around the both of them in turn.

“You’re just being sour because you lost,” Jean tosses back.

“I’m just saying, it’s not fair to play an overpowered character the entire game.”

“Oh my god, I am not listening to this again,” Levi says, abruptly sitting up. “I am taking a nice, hot shower, and you two are going to shut the hell up about wrestling for at least the next fifteen minutes.”

“Wait, no, I’m sorry. I’ll come too,” Eren says excitedly, sitting up in bed. “I’ll help you wash. Make it up to you.”

Jean sits up, looking put out. “But _I_ wanted to help him wash.”

“Jesus christ, would you two _please_ shut the fuck up,” Levi grumbles, standing and prying himself out of their grasp before walking to the bathroom door, stopping to look at them both. “Well, come on then. It’s a big shower. I’m pretty sure we can fit three. Besides, you two owe me a show for all the arguing I’ve had to put up with today.”

He watches, amused, as Jean and Eren both share a serious look. Jean eventually offers Eren a hand. “Truce?”

Eren takes it, nodding solemnly. “Truce. But only until after orgasms. I am _not_ done with this conversation yet.” 

“Deal,” Jean says, eyes lingering on Eren’s prone form as he licks his lips.

Levi rubs at his forehead and tries to ignore how ridiculous they both look, this entire exchange going down naked.

“I swear to god,” he mumbles, walking off in the direction of the bathroom to turn on the water. It’s only quiet for a moment before he can hear the two of them start bickering from the other room about who gets to make Levi breakfast in the morning.

Levi sighs contentedly. 

Though he would sooner die than say so, he supposes he can’t complain too much about all the pampering that comes with their competitiveness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from the wonderful ieatkitcat on tumblr: 
> 
> "ugLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS (if you haven't written that already lol) or maybe ugly sweaters and sharing clothes/wearing each others' clothes? especially the latter tho. i'm so weak for clothes sharing. ererijean would be nice (oh god esp grumpy levi in the loudest christmas sweater) but i wouldn't mind erejean for this either. ^^"

Jean doesn’t like to be disturbed when he’s playing. Especially when he is _in the zone_ ; draped against the frame of his bed, legs kicked out and bent perpendicular in front of him, head leaning over his guitar, eyes closed. Music seems to flow from his fingertips almost without conscious thought. It’s one of those rare times when it almost seems like something greater than Jean himself is flowing through him; like he’s somehow tapped into a source of divine inspiration and is but a vessel for something holy to come through across the strings. Or so he likes to think of it, anyway.

Which is perhaps why it annoys him so much when the hairs on the back of his neck rise, signaling that he’s being watched. He opens his eyes to find Eren leaning against the frame of his doorway, observing him and biting his lip invitingly.

Jean is so distracted by the lip biting for a moment that he does not immediately notice the pile of clothing Eren is squeezing against himself, but once he does, he looks away with a snort, returning to his music playing with a simple, “No.”

“Oh come on, Kirschtein, you have plenty of room!”

“Not happening, Jaeger.”

Eren huffs, stomping a foot on the carpet and drawing Jean’s eye to the stockings he’s currently sporting. They’re the color of Jean’s morning coffee after he’s added milk, mint-green snowflakes climbing up the long, toned outline of his legs and coming to a stop well over his knees.

“But I have nowhere else to put them!” Eren whines, shifting the clothing in his arms higher and to the side, providing Jean a view of Eren’s entire front.

Jean’s brain short-circuits, all the blood in his body making an immediate rush south. 

“You’re not. Uh. You’re not wearing any pants?”

Eren smirks, cocking one hip against the frame of the door, his sweater to riding higher to reveal a peak at his underwear—a silky confection covered in candy canes and lace that has Jean’s mouth watering. 

“Perhaps I could do something to persuade you to change your mind?” Eren asks sweetly.

Something about the tone of Eren’s voice snaps him out of it, reminding Jean of why he has to stay strong. They’ve had this conversation at least twice already.

“For the last time, Eren, I am not going to house all of your fucking Christmas sweaters in my room.”

“I don’t need you to store all of them, just the ones that won’t fit in my room,” Eren insists, holding up the pile of clothing in his hands like it’s _not_ actually enough to fill a majority of Jean’s closet.

“No way. If you leave that shit in here I will set it on fire.”

Eren gasps, taking a step back into the hall, bright eyes glaring twin daggers at Jean in the light. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wanna try me?” Jean goads, raising an eyebrow as he plucks at the strings of his guitar discordantly.

“Levi,” Eren whines, turning on his heel and marching down the hall—and coincidentally giving Jean an eyeful of his backside. “Jean is being a scrooge. _Again_.” 

Jean swallows thickly, following the movement of the words “Christmas Ho” stretched across Eren’s entirely-too-perfect ass as it saunters out of his sight. He _knows_ Eren is doing it on purpose to punish him for not giving in. And it’s working, Jean acknowledges silently, feeling a distinct pang of regret in his chest.

But mostly, he feels a pang of regret in his nether regions, which he suspects will be sadly neglected for the rest of the evening now.

He sighs, setting his guitar aside and standing. Not like he’s going to be able to do much of anything productive after an eyeful of that anyway, he reasons, moving toward the hallway as the low tones of Levi’s voice drift toward him from around the corner.

“Eren, I know you love Christmas,” Levi is saying patiently when Jean enters the kitchen, “and we are all very, very happy for you that you think Christmas is the best thing since sliced fucking bread—“

“Best thing since my _dick_ , maybe,” Jean mutters childishly, wiggling his eyebrows. Eren throws a wadded up shirt at his face, not even sparing him a glance.

Levi rolls his eyes briefly before leveling Eren with a serious look again. “But there is a limit to how much Christmas we can all take. Specifically, there is a limit to how many fucking Christmas sweaters we can store in one apartment.”

Eren’s face falls, a low whine coming from his general direction, his lower lip jutting out in a way that is far more appealing than it has any right to be on a grown-ass man.

“Uh uh, no, don’t even start the pouting shit,” Jean interjects, coming to stand beside Levi in an effort to increase their effectiveness in curbing this—this _Christmas takeover_ they’re currently experiencing in their home. “We have decorated more for Christmas this year than every other Christmas I’ve experienced in this apartment in the last five years _combined_. The whole house smells like candy canes, there are enough ornaments and knickknacks in this home to make a department store envious, and I keep finding glitter on everything I own—including my morning breakfast. I even helped you cut out and hang two hundred paper snowflakes from the ceiling, Eren. _Two hundred snowflakes_. And Levi even let you bring in an _actual living pine tree_ to decorate!”

“They shed everywhere,” Levi says quietly, a twitch in his left eye.

“They do, they shed everywhere,” Jean agrees, wrapping an arm around Levi and giving him a comforting squeeze. Banding together. Being strong and like not giving in and shit. “But we want you to have a fun Christmas so much that we are willing to sacrifice some things to make sure you enjoy it. Isn’t that right, Levi?”

Levi nods, though he’s beginning to look conflicted, as Eren seems like he’s about to start yelling—or worse.

“Right. So you’re going to have to sacrifice something, too, Eren. And that means the sweaters. It’s only fair,” Jean finishes, raising his chin a fraction, because _damn right_ he has a valid argument this time and he is _not_ going to lose this battle.

Eren clenches his jaw, sniffling. Jean watches in horror as his big emerald eyes start blinking rapidly.

“Oh, no,” he whispers.

“Jean, you made him _cry_ ,” Levi hisses, regret evident in his tone as he steps forward to envelop Eren in a hug.

Eren drops the pile of clothing onto the floor, wrapping his arms around Levi in a vice grip as he burrows into his shoulder with a quiet sob.

“Oh, no,” Jean says again, feeling like a broken record and having absolutely no idea what to do to make things right.

“It’s ok, Eren, really. We—we’ll figure out someplace to keep them, ok? Jean is really, really sorry. _I’m_ sorry,” Levi says awkwardly, looking over his shoulder at Jean, their expressions of guilt a matching set.

“No, no, it’s ok,” Eren says wetly, looking up with red-rimmed eyes to grab Jean by the scruff of his shirt. He pulls him forward so forcefully that it sends Jean tumbling forward with a surprised squawk into both Eren and Levi’s arms. “I should just get rid of them. I know I have too many. That’s not why I’m—I mean I just didn’t—I don’t think I realized how much you guys really tried to care about Christmas this year.”

 _I didn’t realize how much you really care about me_ , are the unspoken words Jean and Levi both hear.

“Just, uh. Means a lot, is all,” he finishes softly into the front of Jean’s shirt. 

Jean rubs at Eren’s back in slow circles, searching for a way to make everyone happy and only coming up with—

Well. With one solution, really.

He looks over Eren to lock eyes with Levi, the two of them sharing a long look, both glancing between themselves, Eren, and the pile on the floor before seeming to come to some sort of silent decision. 

After another moment of holding Eren as his sniffles slowly lessen, Jean steps away, bending down to grab the heap of sweaters before tossing them all unceremoniously onto the kitchen table. 

“Well. You like blue, right?” he asks Levi.

Levi nods, disentangling himself from Eren gently. “Anything but the pink and yellow ones. They make me look like death warmed over.”

“That’s fine, those are my favorite anyway,” Jean says distractedly, sorting through the pile and holding up a pink sweater covered in little green trees and white snowflakes against his chest, seemingly satisfied with the way it looks against him before dropping it and several others into a pile.

Across the room, Eren watches them in much the same way someone might after catching a unicorn walking across their yard; that is to say, with great disbelief. 

“What are you doing?” he asks, bewildered.

“Christmas,” they say in unison, not even sparing him a glance as they continue to divide up the remainder of the sweaters on the table.

“I don’t think I look very good in green,” Levi mumbles, holding a blaring mint one up to himself thoughtfully. Jean notices that there is a hookup for a set of blinking lights on the front of it. “And I definitely don’t think ‘naughtiest on the list’ is something I can get away with at my age.”

Jean eyes him, shaking his head. “No, you absolutely have to have that one. It’s perfect. And I think it’ll fit you better than me anyway, so.”

“I hate it,” Levi sneers, holding it out at arm’s length.

“It’ll make the rest of us smile if you wear it,” Jean sing-songs, pushing it gently back in Levi’s direction.

Humming skeptically, Levi eventually folds it and sets it on top of his other selections neatly. “Fine. But I’m wearing it last.”

“That seems fair.”

Eren takes a cautious step forward, still visibly confused. “I don’t understand.”

Jean sighs, running his hand through his hair and leaving it sticking up in several directions, eyes cast toward the heavens. “I hate Christmas,” he mutters. “It’s so stressful.”

  
Levi leans up to brush his unruly locks flat without a word before turning to Eren. “It’s pretty simple. We’re taking these.”

“You’re… taking them,” Eren repeats flatly.

“I don’t have any Christmas sweaters,” Levi says with a shrug. “Someone has to use them. Right?”

Jean nods, waving at the two stacks of clothing now on the table. “And if you ever need to like… borrow one, you can just, you know. Come grab it from our closets,” he finishes lamely, coughing awkwardly and trying to hide a blush. He doesn’t know why he’s blushing, this is all about a bunch of fucking Christmas sweaters, but somehow this all feels very emotional. 

Jean’s eyes light up in a sudden challenge in an effort to diffuse some humor into the situation. “Besides, I look better in them than you do anyway. It’s only fair I get to keep some of them.”

Eren blinks at them, face a wash of emotions, a smile slowly beginning to break out across his face—

Just before he promptly bursts into tears again.

“Oh my god, _no_ , this is _not_ how that was supposed to work out,” Jean flounders, fisting his hands in his hair and looking to Levi again in a panic.

“You gave him an overdose of feelings, Jean. Now he’s just an emotional wreck,” Levi says, clearly amused.

Eren stumbles his way across the kitchen before grabbing them both in another crushing hug. “You guys are the _best_ ,” he warbles.

Jean laughs, throwing an arm around each of them. “We know.”

“Humble, aren’t you,” Levi says dryly, though Jean can see his eyes are smiling.

They stand there like that until Eren calms down enough to stand on his own two feet again. “This is my favorite Christmas ever,” he says decisively. 

“Mine too,” Jean says, running a hand along the smooth plane of Eren’s thigh. “As long as you keep wearing shit like this all month, anyway.”

“Oh?” Eren says, giving a still somewhat watery grin and pressing into the touch.

Levi trails a hand up Eren’s other leg. “You know, I think my condition to wearing your Christmas sweaters is going to be that you have to dress like this more often.”

Jean nods, perhaps a touch too enthusiastically. “Yeah. Same.”

“I think I can agree to those terms,” Eren says coyly before pausing. “But like, just to be clear, I was totally going to do this anyway.”

Jean rolls his eyes, sighing. “At least let me feel like I’ve won _something_ , Eren, for fucks sake.”

Eren squeezes them both tighter. “I can’t. I’m the real winner here.”

Jean glances between the three of them before snorting. “I think we’re all winners here. Honestly, who else would put up with this shit? No one.”

“No one,” Eren agrees happily, smiling.

“We’re practically made for each other.”

“Yeah, you can tell by the way we put up with your racket at four in the morning without so much as a peep,” Levi says wryly.

“Um, _excuse you_. First of all, it is not a racket, ok. I am in the middle of writing a very important song, and when inspiration strikes I can’t just _ignore my muse_ —wait a minute,” he breaks off, pulling back enough to narrow his eyes at Eren. “You two are so full of shit. You threw a pillow at my door last night and told me my song sounded like a dying whale, you dick,” Jean swears, jabbing Eren in the side and making him burst into a fit of giggles. “ _Without so much as a peep_ my ass.”

“You two are so sweet my teeth feel like they’re rotting,” Levi says, rolling his eyes.  Eren and Jean are wise enough not to point out the fact that Levi’s smiling as he says it, instead reaching over to ply him with kisses.

“Ew, gross. Eren, you’re going to get snot in my hair,” Levi says, swatting him away and reaching behind them to grab a box of tissues off the counter before shoving it in Eren’s face. 

Eren laughs, taking a few from the box and walking away to blow his nose. “Sorry. That’s mostly your fault, though.”

“Mostly Jean’s fault, more like.”

Jean frowns, wrapping his arms around Levi from behind and biting teasingly at his neck. “Traitor.”

“I’m sorry, who threw me under the bus last week for not having any milk in the house? That wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”

Jean bites down harder against the pale curve of Levi’s neck, grinning against his skin when he feels Levi’s breath hitch in his throat. 

“You know,” Eren says from the doorway of the kitchen, arms stretching above his head slowly, his sweater shifting higher inch by tantalizing inch to reveal the entirety of his undergarments to the both of them. “Considering I’m the one in the least amount of clothing right now, I’m feeling a little left out,” he pouts, licking his lips.

Jean pauses, mouth moving against Levi’s skin as he asks, “Bedroom?”

“Bedroom,” Levi answers lowly. “I want to take my time.”

Across the room, Eren grins, swiveling his hips invitingly as he turns down the hall to head towards Levi’s bedroom. 

Levi snorts, amused, as he reads the print on Eren’s underwear. “Christmas Ho?” he asks, watching Erens’ retreating form.

“Don’t ask questions, just be grateful,” Jean groans in a rush, intertwining his fingers with Levi’s before ushering the both of them down the hall after Eren.

“Good point,” Levi agrees quietly, feeling like he’s won on more than one level for the evening to be ending on such good terms.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For stuffonmymind12 on tumblr, who sent me a wonderful prompt when they were feeling ill asking for ererijean with a sick Eren based off of their own experiences with not feeling good and wishing they had someone to pamper them. I’m so sorry you weren’t feeling well, friend. I hope this makes up for it.

It was ten in the morning. Levi had been awake since roughly five (he hadn’t really slept the night before, if he was being honest with himself, though he had laid in bed for several hours trying) and was now working on cleaning up the kitchen. Jean had cooked breakfast for everyone before he’d left for class, and despite the fact that Levi loved Jean’s cooking almost as much as he loved Jean himself, Jean had a tendency to leave the kitchen looking like a small tornado had just passed through once he’d finished making a meal.

Levi eyed the bacon grease all over the back wall of the stove, his lip curling. His cooking was still worth it, though, he supposed.

When he’d stopped scrubbing and his eyes came to rest on a plate piled high with uneaten food, he frowned, turning to face Eren’s bedroom door contemplatively.

Eren hadn’t gotten out of bed yet that morning. It was a little unusual for him to sleep in so late unless he’d been up late with Jean or Levi, and Levi knew for a fact Eren had gone to be early the night before. Levi hadn’t even heard him moving around behind the shut door, which was even more odd. Eren almost always woke up in the mornings to turn on some kind of quiet music, even if he fell back asleep. 

He considered leaving Eren alone, but something in his stomach gnawed at him and urged him to check on him. 

He padded softly to the door, putting his ear up against it and hearing nothing. He knocked gently, but still there was no response.

He pushed the door open cautiously, finding a pile of rumpled blankets that seemed to be breathing rhythmically on the bed. Levi smiled slightly to himself before realizing that the breathing sounded a little… off, somehow.

“Eren?” he asked gently, stepping further into the room.

No response.

“Hey,” he said, placing a hand gently on what he thought was probably Eren’s shoulder. “It’s after ten in the morning, beautiful. Do you want to keep sleeping?”

Eren still said nothing, and Levi felt his frown deepen as he realized something was definitely, definitely wrong, because by now Eren would usually be trying to pull Levi down into the bed with him. Eren was a notorious morning snuggler.

He gave Eren’s shoulder a gentle shake, reaching to pull the blankets back from Eren’s face and gasping slightly once he did.

Eren’s skin glistened with sweat, his cheeks flushed despite his pallid tone, and his breath was coming in raspy wheezes.

“Oh my god,” Levi said to himself, and Eren’s eyelids finally fluttered open, the whites of his eyes looking yellow, his expression wan. 

“Levi?” he asked, his voice weak and sounding as though he hadn’t had water in days.

“You’re sick,” Levi said, running a hand over Eren’s forehead and through his sweat-soaked hair. 

“M’not,” Eren responded, moaning weakly at Levi’s soothing touch. “I don’t get sick.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t know how to tell you this,” Levi said, amusement and worry both evident in his voice, “but you are definitely sick. You’ve got a bad fever.”

Eren groaned, burrowing his face further into his pillow.

“I’m going to get you some water, ok? I’ll be right back.”

Levi padded out into the hallway, pulling out his phone to send Jean a text.

[Levi]: We have a situation. 

[Jean]: o god, wat did he do.

[Levi]: He didn’t do anything, actually. He’s sick.

[Jean]: sick? eren doesnt get sick.

[Levi]: He’s really sick. Has a bad fever and everything. He hasn’t made it out of his room yet today. I’m kind of worried.

Jean never responded after that, and Levi shrugged, carrying a glass of water out of the kitchen.

Only to find Eren lying sprawled on the living room couch.

“Why are you out here?” Levi asked gently, setting the glass of water on the table and grabbing a thick blanket to throw over Eren’s shivering form.

Eren looked up at him listlessly. “Wanted to be by you.”

Levi sighed, tucking Eren in and grabbing the glass off the table. “Here, drink this.”

“Mmm, no,” Eren protested. “Tummy hurts.”

“You have to stay hydrated,” Levi insisted, gentle but stern, putting the rim of the cup up to Eren’s lips. Eren looked like he wanted to protest but obediently drank a few swallows before falling back heavily against the sofa. “Good. You need to finish that cup within the hour, ok?”

Eren shot him a glare so weak it made Levi’s heart ache. “Where’s Jean?” he asked.

“He’s in class. He’ll be back this afternoon.”

Eren sighed as if defeated, closing his eyes.

Levi watched him with concern for a moment before asking, “Do you want anything?”

He watched as Eren’s face twisted up for a moment before tears started leaking out of the corners of his closed eyes. “I don’t want to be sick,” he said piteously.  
Levi panicked internally, not knowing what to do to fix this situation and quietly wishing Jean was not in class because he was absolutely certain that this was the sort of thing he’d know how to handle. Levi was not especially great at caring for others in a hands-on sense.

“I’m so sorry, Eren,” he said instead, wiping at Eren’s tears softly before reaching out to hold his hand.

They stayed like that for a while, Eren crying silently while Levi rubbed his knuckles, his other hand carding through Eren’s hair.

Levi chewed on his lip, feeling very much like he should be doing something more useful to fix the situation than he was. Typically, when Jean got sick, Jean tended to order Levi around; “bring me some soup,” “I can’t reach the remote,” “where is the Nyquil,” and that sort of thing. It was something Levi generally appreciated because it meant less anxiety over what to do on his part.

“Your tummy hurts?” Levi finally asked a while later, an idea occurring to him.

Eren nodded.

“How about I make you some ginger tea, then? That’s supposed to help boost your immune system, but ginger also settles upset stomachs,” Levi offered.

Eren seemed to be thinking it over, his eyebrows drawing down, forehead creasing. He finally gave a decisive nod while simultaneously squeezing Levi’s hand in a vice grip. “Ok. But I don’t want to be by myself.”

Levi felt his expression blank. “Eren, I have to get up to make the tea.”

“No,” Eren said stubbornly.

“I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Eren peered up at Levi, his green eyes looking fever-bright in his face and all the more large and beautiful for it. “You promise?”

“I do promise.”

“Ok,” Eren agreed, slowly letting go of Levi’s hand.

Levi rushed into the kitchen to begin making the tea immediately, his fingers gripping his jar of loose-leaf ginger tea because Eren was sick and being sick mandated Levi use his best rather than the shitty store-packaged kind he sometimes bought when the tea shop in town was out of what he needed.

He had just finished filling the hot water and turning on a burner when he heard the front door bang open. He walked around the corner to find Jean looking haggard, arms full of several shopping bags.

“Where is he?” he asked, clearly out of breath. 

Levi pointed to the couch.

They both walked over, and when Eren looked up to see them both standing there, he made a quiet sound of relief before he started crying again.

“Oh, sweetie, no, don’t cry,” Jean murmured, dropping down beside the couch and stroking Eren’s hair. “It’s ok. We’ll take care of you.”

Eren nodded sadly, hiccupping and giving a loud sniffle. Jean pulled out a box of Kleenex from one of the bags beside him, opening it and handing Eren a tissue, which he quietly thanked him for before loudly blowing his nose.

Levi cringed internally, trying not to think too hard about germs and the fact that this likely meant all of them would be sick soon.

“I brought you medicine and I bought groceries so I could make you sick-people food,” Jean assured Eren, lifting up one of the bags. “Where do you feel bad?”

“Head. Tummy. Everything hurts,” Eren admitted, sniffling, eyes watery and red-rimmed.

Jean pulled out several boxes of various medications from the bag, looking up at Levi with a searching expression. Levi pointed to two of them, and Jean immediately ripped them open, giving Eren a handful of medications that would hopefully ease his suffering somewhat.

Levi handed Jean the glass of water, watching worriedly as Eren gratefully took the pills, swallowing them with a relieved sigh.

“Better?” Jean asked, smoothing Eren’s hair away from his forehead.

Eren nodded, reaching a hand out toward each of them.

They both reached forward, clasping Eren’s hands wordlessly.

Eren breathed a deep sigh of relief, his expression smoothing over into one of relaxed calm. “This is what I needed. I’ll be better in no time now.”

Levi snorted.

Jean grinned.

“You’re so spoiled,” Jean insisted, ruffling Eren’s hair gently. 

“He is,” Levi agreed fondly. He turned to look at Jean. “You skipped out on class, didn’t you?”

Jean didn’t respond, instead resting his head on Eren’s arm from where he sat on the floor beside the couch and refusing to meet Levi’s eyes.

Levi didn’t press the subject further, reaching down to run his fingers through Jean’s hair as well and feeling his heart ache pleasantly. It made him feel good to know that Jean cared about them so much. It also left him feeling confident that if anything should ever happen to Levi himself, Jean and Eren would take good care of each other. As sad as the thought was, it was also a comforting one.

The kettle in the other room began to whistle, and Levi squeezed Eren’s hand briefly before dropping it to turn the burner off. Eren didn’t protest this time, which Levi took as a good sign. 

When he brought the tea back into the other room, it was to find Eren snoring softly, Jean looking down at him as though he were the most precious thing he’d ever seen.

“He’s a giant baby,” Jean whispered, looking over to Levi, smiling.

Levi smiled back. “You’re the same way when you get sick.”

Jean grinned. “True.”

“M’not asleep,” Eren pipped up groggily, clearly haven just been sleeping. He accepted a cup of tea from Levi with a grimace, but drank some of it anyway, sighing pleasantly once he’d done so.

“I feel like a hole in my head just opened up,” Eren said, somewhat deliriously. 

“Do you mean you can breathe better now?” Jean asked, amused.

“Yeah,” Eren agreed, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again. “Hey, wait. You’re home.”

“Yeah,” Jean agreed, looking somewhat confused. “I am home.”

“Oh, good,” Eren hummed. “You can play me a song now.”

Levi snorted, understanding dawning on him. 

Jean turned to level him with a bemused look. 

“He was asking where you were earlier,” Levi offered. “I think I know why now.”

Jean turned back to find Eren looking at him expectantly. He groaned, standing and walking the few feet to his room to grab his guitar before plunking down on the edge of the coffee table.

Levi narrowed his eyes. Jean looked at him in silent apology and Levi decided to let it go. If it helped Eren to feel better, well. He supposed he’d just make Jean clean it off again later.

“What do you want to hear?” Jean asked Eren, strumming the strings gently.

“The one you were working on the other night,” Eren answered immediately. 

Jean hesitated, plucking at the strings discordantly. “It’s not even finished, though.”

Eren smiled, his feverish eyes lingering on Jean’s. “I know. That’s why I like it.”

Jean looked at Levi for an apparent translation.

“He likes hearing your creative process. Sits outside your closed door all the time with the TV muted so he can listen,” Levi answered, leaning over to move Eren’s legs before sitting down on the couch and draping Eren’s feet over his lap. 

Eren grinned, nodding. Levi fought off the urge to laugh, knowing Eren would kick himself for admitting this once his brain wasn’t addled with illness.

“Okaaay,” Jean drawled slowly, thinking. “I guess I can work on that for a while. If it starts to bother you, though, just like. Ask me to play something else,” he finished, still clearly doubting that this was what Eren really wanted to hear.

Eren snuggled further into the blankets, watching Jean closely and saying nothing. Levi stroked his legs gently, also turning to listen to Jean.

Watching Jean play was an experience. Jean performed fairly regularly, but seeing Jean play now was completely different to how Jean behaved when he was on stage. There was something oddly sweet and endearing about seeing him pluck away thoughtfully and listening to him sing when he thought no one was paying attention, or when he was comfortable enough that the audience didn’t leave him feeling like he needed to portray a character.

Levi found himself smiling dreamily as he watched Jean’s long fingers meander along the strings of his acoustic guitar, some expensive contraption Levi didn’t even know the brand name of but which he quietly noted was in better shape than any other possession Jean owned. Jean’s honey-smooth voice filled the air softly, no words accompanying the song just yet, only the tune, and Levi got caught up in remembering the first time he’d heard Jean perform for an audience, thinking to himself that someone so talented and beautiful certainly shouldn’t be sharing a home with someone as bland and unartistic as Levi.

He also found himself once again immeasurably grateful that he did have someone as amazing and gifted as Jean to bring music and light into his life.

He looked over to find Eren snoring softly on the couch and found himself equally grateful to have found someone who brought so much movement and color to Levi and Jean’s otherwise mundane and routine existence. Eren was an unstoppable force that has somehow decided to stay in their lives, dragging them along on his adventures with him rather than moving along without them, and Levi honestly had no idea where he would be today without that sort of quiet refusal to accept the status quo, always doing his best to make memories that were meaningful every moment of their lives.

He’d certainly be nowhere near as happy as he was, Levi thought, squeezing Eren’s leg lovingly through the blanket as he watched his long lashes flutter against the smooth skin of his flushed cheeks, lips upturned at the corners, happily dreaming.

“Looks like the meds kicked in,” Jean observed, amber eyes capturing Levi’s own warmly. 

Levi shook his head, leaning over to tuck Eren in gently. “I think your music did the trick more than the medicine.”

“Nah,” Jean said, voice rough and face red, clearly both flustered and pleased by the notion. “It’s not that great a song.”

“It is, though,” Levi insisted in that quietly stubborn way of his. “You’d better play it for me when I get sick, too.”

Jean grinned, lopsided and sappy and so entirely sweet it made Levi’s heart ache. “Anything for you,” he said, winking, a heat to his gaze that made Levi’s blood sing in his veins.

Christ, they’d both be the death of him at this rate, Levi thought, heart pounding in a way Levi found he’d be happy to live with for the rest of his life if he could manage it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pre-Eren entering the storyline. Let the pining and sexual tension commence.

Levi walked from the living room to the kitchen, picking up the mail and sifting through it distractedly. He felt bored, even a little restless, and wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself while he waited.

He’d just been on a pretty serious running session out around town this morning—longer than usual, at least. He went running frequently, almost daily unless the weather was especially terrible or plans got in the way, but he didn’t usually go for quite as long as he had today. He’d needed time to think, though. Time to cool down and let off a little steam.

He’d recently realized he had acquired a rather serious problem, and he still wasn’t sure what to do about it. There wasn’t much he _could_ do about it, he thought angrily, setting down most of the mail and ripping open the electric bill to glare at it moodily.

After months of dancing around the subject internally and spending several sleepless nights mulling things over, Levi had finally come to accept the fact that he did, in fact, have feelings for his roommate, Jean. 

The problem was that Levi just didn’t know what to _do_ with that information.

He’d woken up early this morning to catch a glimpse of Jean whistling in the kitchen as he made himself breakfast, sweatpants hanging low off his narrow hips, eyes crinkling pleasantly at the corners while he smiled at nothing with light catching in his stupidly beautiful hair—

And Levi just couldn’t take it anymore, he’d needed to go for a run.

Except when he came back, Jean was in the shower.

So here Levi was, standing in his kitchen, a disgusting sweaty mess as he fidgeted and waited for Jean to get out of the bathroom. 

It didn’t help that the thought of Jean being naked and wet on the other side of the closed door did something funny to Levi’s brain, sending it tripping over itself in a rush to provide him with mental images of what Jean must look like in the shower. Jean was also singing loudly to himself, probably assuming he was home alone. It was a song he’d been working on late into the evening the night before, crooning softly alongside his guitar as the stars had slowly risen and crossed over their little home.

Levi would know. He’d spent most of the night listening from their deck, glaring at the sky as his heart be just a little too fast and a little too painfully in his chest, somehow unable to stop himself. 

Levi hated feeling like this. In general, Levi had usually found romantic affection to be uncomfortable. Too messy, too uncontrollable and unpredictable and altogether too _lonely_ for his liking. 

The water shut off abruptly from the other room. Levi set down the mail, walking slowly down the hall to lean against the wall near the bathroom door and assuming Jean would be out in a minute or two. He heard the curtain snap back from the tub, as well as Jean’s footfalls as he stepped out of the shower and onto the rug. Levi could almost feel the sensation of the towel against his skin as he listened to Jean dry himself off, Levi’s ears reddening because this was honestly probably an invasion of privacy on his part. 

He shouldn’t be standing here, imagining his roommate naked beyond the door as he tried to take an innocent goddamn shower—

The door opened in a sudden blast of hot air, bathing the hallway in light and a thin mist of steam. Levi startled, eyes wide as he was jarred out of his reverie to find Jean stepping through the doorway.

Jean came to a rapid stop halfway out of the bathroom door, towel slung low around his hips and chest bare as he looked at Levi with equal amounts of shock and embarrassment.

Levi felt his face flush, his eyes seeming to dart over Jean’s form without conscious thought.

Jean’s skin was flushed, splotchy and red across his chest as if someone had left kisses and bite marks lovingly all along his upper torso. His skin was smooth and otherwise pale, though a healthy pale compared to Levi’s own often pallid complexion, and Levi tried his best to memorize the way Jean’s muscles tensed just beneath his skin, hip bones jutting out in a way that sometimes kept Levi up at night. Jean’s hair was still wet, a tossled mass of honey strands that made Levi’s fingers itch to run through it and comb it back from his face. 

He watched a drop of water fall from Jean’s hair to run down the side of his neck and settle along the hollow of his collarbones and had to suppress a sudden and powerful urge to reach out and lick it off.

The thought was so startling and inappropriate that it jolted Levi out of his reverie, his eyebrows snapping down to pin Jean with a disgruntled look.

“Took you long enough,” he muttered flatly, shouldering past Jean through the doorway.

Their arms brushed, Levi swallowing at how warm the action felt, a feeling like electricity shooting down his arm and causing the fine hairs all along it to rise. 

“Sorry,” Jean squeaked from behind him. 

Levi turned to give him with a funny look, because while Jean often made a lot of strange noises, a strangled _squeak_ usually wasn’t one of them. 

By the time Levi actually managed to turn around and look back, it was to see Jean’s broad shoulders disappearing swiftly into his own room at the other end of the apartment.

Levi turned around slowly, listening to the soft thud of Jean’s door swinging shut. He closed the door of the bathroom morosely a moment later, turning to gaze at his own reflection in the mirror and finding his expression looked surprisingly neutral and calm considering his heart was beating in his chest like a damn trapped bird. 

He leaned against the white marble of the countertop, looking long and hard at his own reflected blue eyes.  His grip on the counter tightened when he couldn’t wipe the haunted, burning look from the depths of his gaze. 

He turned away from himself, shutting the curtain once more before turning on the water of the bathtub, slamming the nozzle down to kick on the shower with a sigh.

He hoped no one else could notice the difference. If they did, he’d be in trouble. Particularly if that person was Jean.

Levi felt his heart squeeze painfully, more out of fear than out of affection. He was desperately, horribly afraid of these feelings.

More than anything, Levi didn’t want to scare Jean away. Jean was the best thing he’d had in his life for years, and after sharing a room for the last two, Levi was horrified at the idea that he might ruin their easy and comfortable coexistence with his unwanted feelings.

The thought of his feelings being unwanted was painful, but the thought of losing Jean in his life was far, far worse.

Levi ran a hand through his hair in an effort to calm himself, only for it to come away covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Grimacing, he peeled off his clothing, stepping gratefully into the warmth of the water.

He let the hot spray flow over him, leaning his forehead against the cool tile wall and loosing another long, drawn-out sigh, the image of Jean in nothing but a towel and still covered in dripping water flashing through his mind’s eye.

He had a feeling things were going to be a lot more complicated for him from here on out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from the most amazing cinnamonskull on tumblr, who tbh fuels a lot of my ererijean feels: 
> 
> "writing prompt: ererijean - I'm making up two phrases bc "I never knew you could see the stars from here" and "Well if someone didn't take the batteries out for their video game controller, the flashlight would work" and bonus "This is so romantic I'm gonna puke" : )"

“You’re going to trip and fall on your fucking face, Jean, don’t go that way,” Eren laughed, grabbing Jean’s elbow as they stumbled around through the woods in the dark.

“Well if _someone_ hadn’t taken the batteries out for their video game controller, the flashlight would probably work,” Jean hissed half-heartedly, letting himself be led.

Jean squinted into the darkness, equally irritated and impressed by the way Levi seemed to guide them along calmly as though it wasn’t actually pitch black out here. Like he had done this a thousand times before and had the way completely memorized by now.

Which maybe he did.

“Are you, like, secretly a cat or something?” Jean asked once he and Eren had caught up to him. “How are you not tripping over everything like we are?”

Levi didn’t even turn to spare him a glance. “Not all of us can be paragons of gracelessness, Jean,” he answered, a smile in his voice.

Jean opened his mouth to retort with something snarky and likely full of too much sass, but before he could get a word out they were suddenly breaking through the edge of the woods. The three of them stepped out into a small clearing, Jean and Eren’s mouths hanging open in awe. The open area they were in seemed like something out of another world, ethereal and somehow timeless. The trees ringed the little grove in what seemed like a perfect circle, opening at the center to allow them a perfect view of the sky. Jean heavily suspected that if they’d arrived earlier in the night, fireflies would likely have winked at them from all directions, though it was too late for them now. 

In the middle of the clearing resided a raised section of large, smoothly rounded rocks, which seemed to catch the moonlight and glow with it.

The kind of rocks perfect for sitting on and stargazing, Jean noted. 

“Wow,” Eren said, voice hushed as they clambered to the top of the small rock face. He stopped, looking up at the sky, wide eyes dark and sparkling with the reflection of the waning moon above them. “I never knew you could see the stars from here.”

Levi stepped up next to him, shrugging and looking up as well. Jean was too captivated by the way the dim light ghosted over his pale features to look up at the stars just yet. “I used to come here a lot when I was younger. It’s not a bad place,” Levi finished, in what Jean privately felt was one of the most blatant understatements he had ever heard in his life.

Jean shook his head, fighting off a wayward smirk and flopping down heavily on the smooth rock surface beneath them. He found it was pleasantly warm to the touch, still having maintained some of the heat of the summer sun.

Eren glanced down at what Jean was doing, a scowl briefly crossing his features, apparently irritated that he hadn’t thought to sit down first. He plopped down as well, grabbing Levi’s hand to drag him down between them. 

They all turned their faces back up towards the glittering sky, Jean sighing and leaning forward to rest his chin on Levi’s shoulder as he gazed out around them. He felt Levi shift slightly as Eren leaned against Levi’s other shoulder. 

Jean’s hand found Eren’s around the small of Levi’s back, fingers linking and intertwining naturally.

Eren nuzzled his nose against Levi’s neck briefly, huffing out a pleased sound against his skin. “This is really nice.”

Jean hummed his agreement, turning to press his lips briefly against Levi’s cheek. 

“It’s so romantic I’m gonna puke,” Levi groaned. 

Eren’s laughter filled the clearing. Jean found himself grinning widely.   
He nudged Levi’s shoulder with his face. “If it’s so terrible then why did you bring us?”

“Not terrible,” Levi mumbled, clearly trying not to sound fond and failing miserably. “It’s just a special place, is all.”

 _That I wanted to share with you both_ , were the unspoken words Jean and Eren felt hanging in the air lovingly around them.

They brought their linked hands up to rest between Levi’s shoulder blades, embracing him gently.

No one spoke for a long time, the sounds of nature filling the silence around them as they enjoyed the scenery, taking pleasure in simply being near one another. Jean felt something in his heart warming pleasantly, his arms tingling with the feeling.

He wasn’t sure he ever wanted this moment to end, if he was being honest. He had a feeling it would be a memory that would haunt his dreams happily for the rest of his life.

“Mmm, you know what would make this night even better?” Eren finally asked no one in particular. “Pancakes. Strawberry pancakes.”

Levi looked thoughtful. “Well. I wouldn’t complain.”

Jean felt his eyebrows crease. “Is that your way of lowkey asking me to cook for you when we get home? It’ll be like one in the morning, what the hell.”

“Make me pancakes,” Eren clarified, nodding.

Jean snorted, but it came out sounding a lot more like a laugh. “ _Fine_. But only if you two do dishes.”

“Deal.”

He felt Levi turn his head, smiling against his hair.

 _This could be heaven_ , Jean thought.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A prompt from the most excellent raefill on tumblr:
> 
> "Well this is awkward.." ererijean :)

Levi walked into the apartment to find it suspiciously quiet. Too quite considering he knew both Jean and Eren were home, and while neither of them were usually especially loud people, they were also by no means quiet. Eren was often either humming to himself or watching something on the television, Jean sounding out beats on the kitchen counters while he cooked something as he tried to work the kinks out of a newly-written song.

A ringing quiet was definitely not the norm for their apartment.

No sound at all was actually kind of alarming, Levi thought, gently setting down his bag on the couch as he crept further into their shared home and looked around. Both Jean and Eren’s shoes were next to the front door, Levi noted as he stepped out of his own sandals, placing them neatly down besides theirs. Clearly they hadn’t left while he’d been out.

And yet he didn’t see them anywhere. He peered into the kitchen, finding it tidy but empty. Eren had clearly been there most recently; Jean always left the kitchen in shambles. 

When Levi turned to look down the hall and into Jean’s room, he found that the door wide open, not a soul in residence.

He scratched at his undercut thoughtfully, walking in the opposite direction towards his own room. 

Empty.

Perhaps Eren’s room?

Nope. Vacant.

The bathroom door was open with the light shut off, so that was an obvious no-go as well.

“What the fuck,” he said aloud, turning on the spot. “Did you guys fucking disappear or something?”

When no one answered, he raised his voice a little louder. “ _Hello_?” 

There was a sudden and very loud banging coming from the glass patio door of the kitchen. Levi darted into the room, looking out the window curiously.

And promptly snorted in an attempt to contain his laughter.

“Shut the fuck up, Levi,” Jeans muffled, sullen voice came from the other side of the door. “Just let us in.”

Eren said nothing, though judging by the way his face was pulled into deep scowl, he wasn’t happy either.

Levi shook his head as he padded across the room, unlocking the door with a click and swinging it open, gesturing for the two of them to enter.

Jean and Eren both left forward, a brief battle ensuing over who could shove themselves through the doorframe first. Eren whipped around to swiftly shut the door behind them, closing the curtains over the window with a snap.

“Well,” Levi intoned smugly as he gazed at them both, “This is awkward.”

Both Eren and Jean stood naked in the kitchen, a single towel wrapped partway around the both of them. Well, it had been until Eren had rushed to close the curtains. Now it was mostly just hanging off of Jean in a rather pathetic manner.

“Don’t you say a word,” Jean hissed, pressing his palm to his forehead, his blush so strong it covered his face and stretched halfway across his chest. Levi eyed it appreciatively but chose to keep his mouth closed.

He nudged Eren with his foot instead, expression amused. “So. How did that happen?”

“Never again,” was all Eren said, turning on his heel and filling the kettle with water before slamming it down on the stove.

Well. Apparently this called for tea. Levi was clearly rubbing off on him, he thought, more than a little pleased by the idea.

It occurred to Levi in that moment that the two of them seemed genuinely distressed. He suddenly realized he’d been gone for over an hour, and wondered just how long they’d been locked out.

Levi stepped forward, snagging Eren around the waist and pulling him against his chest despite that Eren was still fully in the nude. “Hey. You ok?”

Eren sighed, leaning his head against Levi’s shoulder with an air of defeat. 

“We, uh. Took a shower,” Jean mumbled from behind them. Levi turned to give him his attention and found Jean scuffing his bare foot around on the wood flooring—the way he always did when he felt guilty about something. “And when we were done, we thought it’d be nice to step out on the porch. It’s pretty warm outside now. Dry off out in the sun and whatever, right?”

Eren groaned as if the mere mention of this was cause for anguish, closing his eyes and pressing his face further into the crook of Levi’s shoulder.

“And then when we went outside, I, uh. May have accidentally pressed the lock button as I shut the door behind me.”

Levi felt his lips turn up but he managed to stave off a laugh.

“And then it turned out that it was actually rather windy outside, and, um. Well, we may have gotten into a slight argument over who’s idea it was to step out onto the porch and…”

Eren reached a hand up to run it through his own hair, making a disgruntled face at the floor. “I lost my towel.”

“Oh no,” Levi said, rubbing Eren’s back lightly.

“And then you weren’t here to let us in, and Eren was naked, so I, like, shared my towel with him. But it was windy, and the people across from us in the building next door were out on their balcony.”

Jean paused, swallowing audibly.

“They, uh. May have seen more of us than they were meant to.”

Levi grinned, reaching out to catch Jean around the neck and tugging him gently forward and into his embrace as well.

They all stood like that for a while, Levi feeling them both slowly relax against him. 

When Eren started shivering, Levi finally pulled back.

“Alright. First of all, I’m sorry I wasn’t home sooner,” he began.

They both looked at him morosely.

“Second, you’re both ridiculous.”

Eren nodded, sighing and looking like the last of his anger had finally drained out of him. Jean was clearly trying to fight off the blush that was attempting to creep back across his chest. 

“Thirdly,” he said, pecking them each on the corner of the mouth briefly. “I love you very much _despite_ that you are both ridiculous.”

Levi felt more than heard Jean’s laugh, Eren bringing his face up to smile at Levi ruefully.

“Lastly, you both look like you’re about to freeze your balls off. I don’t care if it’s ‘kind of’ warm or not, that’s too long to be standing naked outside at this time of year. So, here’s what we’re going to do,” he said, walking out of the room and knowing without having to ask that they’d follow him. 

He paced the short distance into the bathroom, plugging up the tub and kicking on the water. “You two get in here and warm up, and I will finish making tea. Maybe pop some popcorn too—which I can do without catching the place on fire, don’t you say a word, Jean. When you’re done, we can all cuddle on the couch and watch that Ocean’s Eleven movie, because I know how much you both like it.”

“Twelve is better,” Jean mumbled, already stepping one foot into the barely-filled tub.

Eren shook his head. “No. Thirteen is superior.”

“But the laser light scene,” Jean said vaguely, turning around to look Eren in the eye pleadingly. “Also Julia Roberts? Like how can you not like that movie the most.”

Eren seemed to think about it for a moment before reaching out to snatch Jean’s towel away from him, placing it on the drying rack with an air of finality. “ _Fine_. I guess that’s a good point.”

Levi rolled his eyes. “Ok, Ocean’s _Twelve_ , then. Now sit down, relax, and warm up for a few minutes. I’ll get snacks ready.”

He turned away from them as though he was about to leave the bathroom, but Eren saw a mischievous glint to his eyes where they reflected back at him in the mirror.

Levi’s hand whipped out to grab Jean sharply by the jaw, startling him as he turned his face towards his own. “ _Do not lock yourselves out again_ ,” he growled before kissing him with a gentleness at odds with his tone, biting at Jean’s lower lip as he pulled away and eliciting a loud groan. 

He pulled back, grabbing Eren behind the neck to give him a soft, slow kiss that Eren melted into before turning to stalk out of the bathroom, pausing just long enough to wink at them as he rounded the corner.

Eren glanced back at Jean to find him looking stunned and more than a little turned on in the wake of Levi’s departure.

He smirked, gesturing at Jean’s growing erection. “I could help you with that. If you wanted.”

Jean blinked rapidly in an effort to snap himself out of a daze, pinning his amber eyes on Eren. His arm wrapping firmly around Eren’s waist as he pulled him closer, forcing Eren to step into the tub with him or risk falling over. 

“Do you have any idea how difficult it was to keep my hands to myself for an entire hour while sharing a towel with you? _Naked_?” he asked, voice low and husky.

Eren quirked an eyebrow, worrying at his lip distractedly. “We were outside. In _public_. The neighbors were even laughing at us at one point, Jean, what the fuck.”

“Yeah, I know. What a way to shut them up that would have been, don’t you think?” Jean asked, something wicked in his tone that suddenly had all the blood in Eren’s body making a mad dash south.

Jean leaned forward, pausing an inch from Eren’s lips, his breath fanning over Eren’s face as he searched his expression. “Forgive me?”

“I might. If you play your cards right,” Eren murmured, trailing a hand lightly over Jean’s hip before reaching out his tongue to lick obscenely at Jean’s open mouth. 

Jean’s breath hitched, a low moan escaping him as he pulled Eren closer, their hips pressing together in a way that had Eren feeling thoroughly warmed up already. 

“I swear to god if there is sex going on in that bathroom I am not going to be responsible for cleaning it up,” Levi called from the other room, the sound of popcorn popping in the microwave accompanying the sound of his voice.

Eren laughed, the sound vibrating against Jean’s chest. Eren suddenly dropped his weight, pulling Jean down into the warm water with him, some of it sloshing over the side of the tub. “That’s fine,” Eren called back. “I’m more than happy to clean up that kind of mess.”

“Oh?” Jean asked, lips quirking to the side in a way that looked decidedly feral, exposing a set of sharp teeth. It made Eren think of a wolf that had just set eyes on an especially delicious meal, and he shivered. “In that case.”

Jean leaned forward, pulling Eren’s back against his chest as they both lay back in the tub. He let his teeth drag slowly along the warm curve of Eren’s neck, nipping lightly just behind his ears, his hands skating lightly across Eren’s thighs under the water.

Eren let his head fall back against Jean’s shoulder with an eager sigh, one hand wrapping around Jean’s knee like a lifeline, the other reaching behind him to thread itself through Jean’s hair.

“Seriously, can you at least turn off the water first?” Levi huffed, stomping back into the room to turn the faucet off. “For fuck’s sake, you’re going to flood the whole damn apartment.”

Eren blinked, feeling dazed. He noticed for the first time that the water in the tub _had_ gotten dangerously full.

Levi glanced at them both, eyes dark and heated, but just shook his head, leaving the room with a small smile.

“Are you sure you don’t want to—?” Eren called out, abruptly cutting off on a moan when Jean reached around to run his fingers along the underside of his cock.

“Nope,” Levi hollered from the other room. “I think you two need to work things out amongst yourselves. You can get me later.”

Eren felt Jean grin against his throat, his heart beating like a jackhammer beneath his ribcage where it pressed against Eren’s back. 

Jean paused to shout at Levi. “Deal, but only if you promise to sleep in my room tonight.”

“Only if you promise to make Eren scream first,” Levi’s disembodied voice replied smugly from what sounded like the living room.

The hand that wasn’t already teasing Eren beneath the water came to wrap itself around his torso, trailing water slowly along his ribs to rub wetly against one of Eren’s nipples. 

Eren hissed, arching into the touch. 

“Challenge accepted,” Jean whispered, biting down sharply on Eren’s shoulder.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sweetest anon to ever grace my inbox, who prompted me with ererijean and the phrase "things we said when we were the happiest we ever were." This was actually really hard for me to write. I hope you like fluff.

“Move your feet, Jean,” Eren mumbled around a mouthful of popcorn, eyes never leaving the TV.

Jean shuffled a little, which only served to prod Eren further in his side if Eren’s angry grumbling was anything to go by.

Levi grunted, attempting to shift them into a less painful position. “You’re both bony as hell. This isn’t comfortable at all.”

Eren barked a laugh, nearly sending the bowl of popcorn flying where it was perched on his stomach. Levi noticed he didn’t bother to refute the statement, which was just as well, because it was definitely the truth.

Levi rolled his eyes, leaning back against the cushions and watching Eren lick his fingers out of the corner of his eye before shoveling more popcorn into his mouth. It was an action Eren had repeated no less than five times in the last ten minutes, and Levi somehow found it strangely endearing.

Eren and Jean were both lying at opposite ends of their perpetually too-small sofa, Levi sitting at the center with both of their legs strewn across his lap.

It was warm and entirely _too_ comfortable if Levi was being honest with himself, though he would never admit it out loud. Jean interjected commentary on the movie at random, managing to catch Levi repeatedly off guard with how insightful and witty his criticisms were (the fact that most of them made Eren laugh was also a bonus). It was how nearly all of their Friday nights went, spent curled up together on the sofa watching movies—often the same ones, if Eren was allowed to choose on a given evening, though Jean insisted they ban Fight Club from movie night for at _least_ the next few months because they’d seen it so many times now that he could recite most of it from memory.

He found himself idly stroking Eren’s leg hair, which was unfairly soft, as he gazed unseeingly at the television before him, his chest feeling weirdly tight and warm. Jean had stretched out a hand a while ago and was clutching the fingers of Levi’s left hand loosely in his own, alternating between stroking the back of Levi’s knuckles absently and squeezing his fingers when he got too involved in the movie.

Somehow, Friday night movie time had grown to be the part of the week Levi looked forward to most. He couldn’t pinpoint when he’d started feeling that way, he only knew he often found himself looking forward to it as a way to get him through a stressful week at work. The promise of down time with his two favorite people had given him the strength to push through more than one grueling day in recent memory.

And something about that downtime not only destressed him, but left him feeling whole, recharged and filled up with a strange sense of completeness and joy he couldn’t even identify.

Levi turned to look at Eren, his eyes bright as they caught and reflected the light off the television. He watched, stomach twisting as Eren suddenly grinned around a mouthful of popcorn at something one of the characters in the movie had said, white teeth flashing briefly as he gave a snort.

“That wasn’t funny. You think everything is funny,” Jean grumbled good-naturedly, kicking at Eren’s side with his foot again.

Eren shot him a weak glare, throwing a piece of popcorn across Levi at Jean’s head. Jean jerked suddenly, attempting to catch it in his mouth and giving a dismayed squawk when he missed it by almost half a foot.

Without missing a beat, Eren threw him another piece, his aim higher this time, and Jean caught it easily, grinning and kicking at Eren’s side again triumphantly.

Jean’s eyes were a bright amber in the dark of the room, glowing almost eerily and yet somehow managing to look incredibly fond as his gaze flicked from Eren to Levi, his smile widening as he did so before looking away at the movie again.

Levi reached up slowly with his free hand, resting it against his own rib cage to feel his heart beating rapidly. His entire body was warm, electricity singing through his veins in a way that left him feeling both grounded and simultaneously floaty. It wasn’t a bad sensation, Levi thought pleasantly. It wasn’t the kind of feeling he got when he was turned on, but something warm and heavy that made him want to sink into the couch and become one with it—something that made him wish this moment would never end.

It was a feeling that had been plaguing him for months on and off, though recently it had seemed to fester beneath his skin until it was an almost constant thing, leaving him feeling warm and happy and somehow always thinking that this is what it felt like to be home. Levi remembered thinking it a week ago when Eren came in from buying groceries, soaked to the bone from a sudden downpour and cheerfully shouting _I’m back_ as he walked through the door, shaking his hair like a wet dog. He remembered thinking it just the night prior when Jean had sat down next to him on the back deck, saying nothing, just holding his hand as Levi sipped his tea and keeping him company as he watched the stars.

He remembered thinking it this morning when he found both Jean and Eren wrapped up together on the very same couch they all sat on now, a mass of tangled limbs and warm breaths that left Levi’s chest aching in the most pleasant way as he covered them both with a blanket.

“I love you,” Levi blurted, eyes widening. The truth of the statement hit him the moment the words left his mouth, the feeling he was experiencing somehow intensifying even as he spoke, which he hadn’t thought possible.

The corners of his lips turned up of their own accord, and he felt a swell of pride for finally identifying what he’d been feeling. Emotions weren’t a subject Levi often had a very high aptitude for. It was a lot like getting a good grade on a test he was sure he’d failed.

Both boys immediately broke off into sudden coughing fits, startling Levi out of his thoughts, Eren choking on popcorn and Jean apparently forgetting how to breathe on his own. The bowl of popcorn made a dull thud as it hit floor, bits of white and yellow scattering across the carpet as Eren flailed around in an effort to sit up.

 “What did you just—“ Eren rasped, eyes the size of saucers.

“ _I love you_ ,” Levi cut him off, repeating himself as if conveying he’d just found out he had a winning lottery ticket. “Both of you,” he clarified, squeezing Jean’s hand, which had gone slack in his own.

He turned to find Jean looking at him as if he were witnessing a miracle, face flushed prettily in the dim glow of the television, mouth agape. After several pregnant seconds of silence, Jean finally seemed to gather himself enough to speak.

“Am I dreaming right now?” he asked in a breathless voice that somehow still managed to sound like it was in desperate need of an oil change.

No one answered him. Eren seemed at an utter loss for words.

The gravity of what Levi had just said seemed to hit him slowly.

He’d just suddenly announced he was in love.

He felt his face heat incrementally as the silence stretched out between them, his eyebrows drawing down into a defensive scowl.

“Well don’t look at me like I’m supposed to know what to do with this information,” he finally mumbled moodily, looking back at the television unseeingly in an effort to avoid their eyes.

Just because he could recognize the emotion didn’t mean he knew how to go about _literally anything else_ , he thought, definitely not feeling a spike of internal panic.

He was completely caught off guard when Jean suddenly launched himself at him, arms flying around his neck and gripping hard enough to hurt as he buried his face in Levi’s shoulder. Levi sat there, arms askew as he tried to figure out what was going on.

A moment later, when Levi felt something wet sliding slowly down the side of his neck to pool in the collar of his shirt, he realized Jean was crying.

His eyes flickered to Eren in a panic, looking for help, only to find Eren in a similarly distraught state, one hand clutching Jean’s arm as he sniffled wetly.

His head dropped heavily on Levi’s other shoulder a moment later, hair tickling Levi’s nose as he wrapped his arms around the both of them.

Levi raised his arms carefully, patting them awkwardly in an effort to sooth them. Instead it just seemed to make them both cry harder, Eren hiccupping a loud sob and leaving Levi feeling stunned.

“I am not an expert at this sort of thing,” he said uncertainly over their heads, “But I am pretty sure this is not how confessions of feelings are supposed to go.”

Eren laughed, warm air gusting across Levi’s neck at the outburst and bringing Levi at least some level of internal relief.

Jean just clung to him harder.

Levi rubbed at their shoulders, glancing around the room for some kind of help and finding absolutely nothing useful. “Ok, why are you crying?” he finally asked, voice pained.

“’m _happy_ ,” Jean mumbled, and Levi felt his lips touch his neck in a kiss so gently the feeling was almost reverent. “Just. Never thought I’d hear you say that is all.”

Eren nodded, pulling back and wiping at his face, smiling widely. “It’s kind of a dream come true, you know?”

“Like a thing I can cross of my bucket list, more like,” Jean mumbled petulantly, pulling back from Levi as well, eyes red but shining with a level of affection that left Levi feeling speechless.

He tried not to feel too grossed out by the sensation of salt drying on his skin as he pulled back as well, looking them over thoroughly. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he realized he was trying to memorize everything about this moment.

They both looked really, really happy, despite all the crying. Levi’s heart gave a sharp tug, a part of him wishing he’d realized and said something sooner, as it was clearly important to them.

He found himself smiling. He _always_ found himself smiling when that warm feeling flooded his veins and settled in his heart, if he was being honest.  

“I love you,” Eren said suddenly after a moment, yanking Jean towards him by the scruff of his shirt and planting a wet kiss on his surprised mouth before leaning forward to do the same to Levi, only with much more finesse.

Jean scowled, somehow still managing to look like he had never been happier in his entire life as he grabbed them both around the shoulders, pulling their heads towards his own so he could rub his face against theirs. “I love you more—no, don’t even start with me, Eren, it’s true,” he cut him off as Eren opened his mouth to protest.

“Can I just say this is the happiest I’ve ever felt, then? Because it is. And I _do_ love you both more, you asshole,” he argued anyway.

Levi listened to them bicker for a moment, watching as they nearly sent each other flying off the couch in their quest to prove who was really capable of the most love, a quest which ended with Eren yelling _fine, Jean, just let go of my nose, fuck, that_ hurts _you know._

“I really do, though. Love you, I mean,” Levi said quietly, reaching out a hand to each of them and feeling like he’d won a great prize when they immediately stopped fighting, reaching out to grasp his hands in their own, their expressions twin mirrors of exasperation and fondness.

“We know,” Eren said, squeezing his fingers in his own.

Jean leaned forward to nudge Levi’s shoulder with his own. “We’re just glad _you_ know, too. Took you long enough.”

“Weren’t sure you’d _ever_ figure it out, to be honest,” Eren admitted, sharing a brief conspiratorial look with Jean.

Levi closed his eyes, smiling widely. He leaned back against the couch again, basking in the sensation of feeling like sunlight had somehow filled his chest and decided to call it home.

Love, huh.

It really wasn’t so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Want to be tumblr buddies? Come and say hello. xenophonspeaks.tumblr.com


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